Gigantic Gourd Squashes Competition
Talk of fertilizer mixes and soil composition could be
heard as the participants in Aldor Acres' Giant
Pumpkin Weigh Off waited to hear the latest numbers.
The Saturday event brought together some of B.C.'s most competitive gourd-growers, each hoping to have created a giant that can squash the competition.
The first six pumpkins were manhandled onto the industrial scale by three or four men.
The last four required farmer Albert Anderson's tractor and a forklift attachment. Weights increased from more than 100 pounds for the smallest pumpkins, to more than 700, 800 and 900 pounds.
In the end, it came down to a tiny difference between the largest two pumpkins.
"Seven is now my unlucky number," joked Glenn Dixon after his pumpkin came in second - by just seven pounds.
Winner Chad Gilmore of Pemberton brought a pumpkin that tipped the scales at a colossal 1,044 pounds. That's just five pounds off his personal best, a 1,049 pounder he grew in 2010.
Gilmore took home a $500 cheque, while second place got $250 and third $100.
Gilmore has been growing competitively for several years, and knows many of the other growers who took part in Saturday's event.
"It's a pretty small community. I hope it gets bigger," said Gilmore.
Gilmore admits that trying to get a pumpkin up to giant size means paying a lot of attention to it as it grows.
"You're in the patch every day," he said.
And although he doesn't name his giant pumpkins, he knows several who do.
He and his friendly competitors - Dixon presented Gilmore with the winner's plaque - typically share tips online through www. bigpumpkins.com. The site tracks the entire giant pumpkin hobby, including news of the new world record holder, a 2,009 pound pumpkin grown in the U.S.
A potato farmer, Gilmore plans to carve his award winner into a huge Jack O'Lantern for Halloween. Until a few years ago, his family would see just four or five kids a year trick or treating. Now, with their big pumpkins out front, about 50 stop by.
After Halloween, he'll smash up the pumpkin and feed it to his cattle.
This was the first time Aldor Acres has held a giant pumpkin weigh-off.
http://www.langleyadvance.com/life/Gigantic+gourd+squashes+competition/7395637/story.html
heard as the participants in Aldor Acres' Giant
Pumpkin Weigh Off waited to hear the latest numbers.
The Saturday event brought together some of B.C.'s most competitive gourd-growers, each hoping to have created a giant that can squash the competition.
The first six pumpkins were manhandled onto the industrial scale by three or four men.
The last four required farmer Albert Anderson's tractor and a forklift attachment. Weights increased from more than 100 pounds for the smallest pumpkins, to more than 700, 800 and 900 pounds.
In the end, it came down to a tiny difference between the largest two pumpkins.
"Seven is now my unlucky number," joked Glenn Dixon after his pumpkin came in second - by just seven pounds.
Winner Chad Gilmore of Pemberton brought a pumpkin that tipped the scales at a colossal 1,044 pounds. That's just five pounds off his personal best, a 1,049 pounder he grew in 2010.
Gilmore took home a $500 cheque, while second place got $250 and third $100.
Gilmore has been growing competitively for several years, and knows many of the other growers who took part in Saturday's event.
"It's a pretty small community. I hope it gets bigger," said Gilmore.
Gilmore admits that trying to get a pumpkin up to giant size means paying a lot of attention to it as it grows.
"You're in the patch every day," he said.
And although he doesn't name his giant pumpkins, he knows several who do.
He and his friendly competitors - Dixon presented Gilmore with the winner's plaque - typically share tips online through www. bigpumpkins.com. The site tracks the entire giant pumpkin hobby, including news of the new world record holder, a 2,009 pound pumpkin grown in the U.S.
A potato farmer, Gilmore plans to carve his award winner into a huge Jack O'Lantern for Halloween. Until a few years ago, his family would see just four or five kids a year trick or treating. Now, with their big pumpkins out front, about 50 stop by.
After Halloween, he'll smash up the pumpkin and feed it to his cattle.
This was the first time Aldor Acres has held a giant pumpkin weigh-off.
http://www.langleyadvance.com/life/Gigantic+gourd+squashes+competition/7395637/story.html
Canadian Border Guard shot at Peace Arch, Gunman kills self
A Canadian border guard was shot at Douglas (Peace Arch) crossing Tuesday afternoon, and her shooter killed himself.
The officer was shot in the neck shortly before 2 p.m. and was airlifted to hospital. She is in stable condition, according to the RCMP Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, which is investigating the incident as an attempted homicide.
At a news conference at Peace Arch Park 2½ hours after the double shooting, RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet said the shooting of the officer and the suicide of the gunman occurred at the same time.
"The instant following the shooting of the officer, the lone male had been pronounced dead at the scene from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Paquet said.
The gunman's body remained in a white van with Washington State plates, stopped by the booth of the northbound lane closest to the Canada Customs building.
A blanket covered the windshield, and the licence plate number was also obscured.
A witness who was in the lineup told reporters he heard a single shot, followed by the sound of someone screaming, and then saw a border officer running towards the van with his hand on his sidearm.
"It was just a pop," said Delta resident Brian White, who was in the Nexus express lane, returning from what he had expected to be a brief trip for gas.
"It wasn't really loud at all."
The muffled sound seemed to come from the inside of the van, White said.
"One girl was screaming."
He saw one officer running toward the van, then others at the van with their guns drawn.
Golfers at nearby Peace Portal course also reported hearing what sounded like gunfire.
"The first one to come in and say something was actually one of our members. They were on the 18th green," assistant general manager Kevin McAllister told Peace Arch News. "She heard two shots fired."
The sound of emergency vehicles racing for the border followed soon after, and police helicopters began hovering over the area, McAllister said.
He described the incident as "the most serious I've ever seen" in six years of working at Peace Portal.
Prior to the news conference, a police officer was taking photographs of each of the approximately 75 vehicles that had been stopped in the lineup behind police tape, paying particular attention to licence plate numbers.
The cars began to be released through the border as the news conference got underway.
Luc Portelance, president of the Canada Border Services Agency, flew to Vancouver Wednesday morning to meet with the injured officer.
CBSA also flew the officer's family to Vancouver to be with her.
In a news release the day before, Portelance said his thoughts are with the unnamed officer and her family.
"I know everyone at the CBSA will be thinking of her, as well as her colleagues at Douglas and in the Pacific Region, today and in the days to come," he said.
"This is a profound reminder of the risks that border services officers assume every day. I know that the courage and dedication of our officers are second to none."
The border remained closed in both directions as of Wednesday morning.
Drivers are being diverted to the Pacific Highway and Aldergrove crossings.
http://www.peacearchnews.com/news/174458841.html
The officer was shot in the neck shortly before 2 p.m. and was airlifted to hospital. She is in stable condition, according to the RCMP Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, which is investigating the incident as an attempted homicide.
At a news conference at Peace Arch Park 2½ hours after the double shooting, RCMP Cpl. Bert Paquet said the shooting of the officer and the suicide of the gunman occurred at the same time.
"The instant following the shooting of the officer, the lone male had been pronounced dead at the scene from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Paquet said.
The gunman's body remained in a white van with Washington State plates, stopped by the booth of the northbound lane closest to the Canada Customs building.
A blanket covered the windshield, and the licence plate number was also obscured.
A witness who was in the lineup told reporters he heard a single shot, followed by the sound of someone screaming, and then saw a border officer running towards the van with his hand on his sidearm.
"It was just a pop," said Delta resident Brian White, who was in the Nexus express lane, returning from what he had expected to be a brief trip for gas.
"It wasn't really loud at all."
The muffled sound seemed to come from the inside of the van, White said.
"One girl was screaming."
He saw one officer running toward the van, then others at the van with their guns drawn.
Golfers at nearby Peace Portal course also reported hearing what sounded like gunfire.
"The first one to come in and say something was actually one of our members. They were on the 18th green," assistant general manager Kevin McAllister told Peace Arch News. "She heard two shots fired."
The sound of emergency vehicles racing for the border followed soon after, and police helicopters began hovering over the area, McAllister said.
He described the incident as "the most serious I've ever seen" in six years of working at Peace Portal.
Prior to the news conference, a police officer was taking photographs of each of the approximately 75 vehicles that had been stopped in the lineup behind police tape, paying particular attention to licence plate numbers.
The cars began to be released through the border as the news conference got underway.
Luc Portelance, president of the Canada Border Services Agency, flew to Vancouver Wednesday morning to meet with the injured officer.
CBSA also flew the officer's family to Vancouver to be with her.
In a news release the day before, Portelance said his thoughts are with the unnamed officer and her family.
"I know everyone at the CBSA will be thinking of her, as well as her colleagues at Douglas and in the Pacific Region, today and in the days to come," he said.
"This is a profound reminder of the risks that border services officers assume every day. I know that the courage and dedication of our officers are second to none."
The border remained closed in both directions as of Wednesday morning.
Drivers are being diverted to the Pacific Highway and Aldergrove crossings.
http://www.peacearchnews.com/news/174458841.html
STANDOFF: Surrey man facing weapons charges over Fairmont Hotel standoff
A 27-year-old Surrey man is facing several charges following a 10-hour standoff with police in a downtown Vancouver hotel on Monday.
Ranjit Singh Sandhu was arrested in the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel just after noon on Oct. 15 and is now charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, according to a Vancouver Police Department news release.
At about 2:30 a.m. police were called after a man brandishing a gun walked into the hotel. Streets around the hotel were blocked to traffic and pedestrians and hotel guests were asked to stay in their rooms until a safe exit route was established at 10 a.m.
The incident ended at 12:15 p.m. when officers used a “flash-bang” device to distract the distressed man, then shot him with a rubber bullet. The man was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Sandhu remains in custody; his next appearance is scheduled for Oct. 19 in Vancouver provincial court.
http://vancouverdesi.com/news/standoff-surrey-man-facing-weapons-charges-over-fairmont-hotel-standoff/
Ranjit Singh Sandhu was arrested in the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel just after noon on Oct. 15 and is now charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon, according to a Vancouver Police Department news release.
At about 2:30 a.m. police were called after a man brandishing a gun walked into the hotel. Streets around the hotel were blocked to traffic and pedestrians and hotel guests were asked to stay in their rooms until a safe exit route was established at 10 a.m.
The incident ended at 12:15 p.m. when officers used a “flash-bang” device to distract the distressed man, then shot him with a rubber bullet. The man was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Sandhu remains in custody; his next appearance is scheduled for Oct. 19 in Vancouver provincial court.
http://vancouverdesi.com/news/standoff-surrey-man-facing-weapons-charges-over-fairmont-hotel-standoff/
RSS Feed